#working terriers

[zooophagous]

I'm gonna be contrarian here for a minute and rant about "cats aren't even good pest control."

Which, one study that found cats don't do well against rats is not the be all end all of reality. A cat may not go after Norway rats, which are large and aggressive, no. An adult male wild Norway rat is large enough to give almost any cat a run for its money.

But Norway rats aren't the only thing that exist and get into houses and barns. It is very cold where I live, and while I see mice and packrats and voles, I have never once seen a wild RAT. Wild RATS don't get into my garage. Deer mice do. Bushy tailed pack rats do.

And you know what fixed it?

My cat. He's not even an outdoor cat. He's 100% indoors, or in the garage but only with the door closed so he can't leave.

He single handedly removed my packrat problem. I didn't need to resort to poisons and while I did set traps, none of them had even half of his success rate. Cats were domesticated primarily because of how good they are at catching small rodents. Their success knocked other animals such as trained ferrets off the popular spot for the task. Claiming a cat is useless as pest control is just plain not true.

Cats are decent pest control WITHIN CERTAIN PARAMETERS. They're good for certain types of small pest, and cats need ro be CONTAINED. Much like poisons, you can't just throw cats around willy nilly because they'll kill a shitload of non target animals.

A barn or shop cat is a good option for long term mouse control *if* it is actually confined to that barn or shop and not free to just leave. A semi feral cat that lives in a large warehouse and is vaccinated and desexed and vetted and kills whatever tiny pests get in to chew on stuff is the best case scenario for an adopted feral.

What I do NOT get however, is the insistence that terriers are better and you should just get one of those.

A dog is not an easy animal to keep and nor is it one you should go purchase because you want long term pest control in your barn. If you want a pest control solution call an externinator. If you want a dog that's intelligent and driven and needs dedicated training and care and you're happy to put in the energy to actually focus its chaotic energy into something useful then go get a ratting terrier.

These little dogs do not fill the same niche as a barn cat and their care is quite a bit more intense in general especially if the dog is going to be a house pet as well as a worker. They're intense and destructive and can and will pick fights, often fatal fights, with other animals. Stop telling people to go get one when all they need is to get some squirrels out of a shed. Buying a dog and buying pest control are not the same thing.

You could *hire* a ratter to do a sweep, but unless you're also removing the conditions that made your property popular with rats to begin with you're going to have to keep bringing them back.

The kind of people who leave feral cats outside to roam and breed freely are the last fucking people who have any business keeping a working line terrier.

#even a relatively easy puppy is a ton of work #i cant imagine trying to raise like a patterdale or jagd terrier puppy #or buying one and expecting it to live in and clear out my barn

[wyrddogs]

Something something just because the dog isn't flashy doesn't mean it's not driven. Just because it's not screaming doesn't mean it's not in drive.

Just because the dog is best suited for trailing, locating, and flushing game and thus rarely gets to participate in killing game, doesn't make it less important than the team members who are better at killing. The killing might be the flashiest and most exciting part, but it isn't the most important part. The dogs that kill won't be able to do that if the dogs that flush don't put the game into the position to be killed.

Grumbly venting brought to you a conversation with someone who thinks the actual kill is the most important part of hunting. And who thinks that only badass, hardcore, drivey, screamy dogs that murder are good hunting dogs.

#random things that irk me #hunting #to be clear I am not even a hunter #sometimes I hunt with my dog #but I am not a hunter #I do not live that lifestyle #but I still go out and put up rats and rabbits both alone and with friends #I put in the work #so it is annoying for someone who does not put in that work #to obliquely put my dog down because he is better suited for flushing than killing #and he doesn't have the flashiness of a terrier #he is very workmanlike and not exciting to watch #but he gets the job done #it does not make him a less important team member #than the flashy terriers who kill the game he drives into their mouths #also this isn't about anyone online #it's an irl person I had a convo with

[protagonist-art]

i may have problems and issues 🥳

#buck has a stocky working horse kinda build :3 i dont think i got that across BWHWHA hopefully i can draw him again #ive been ruminating on this for MONTHS #john marston is called john dory for the sake of laughs and making real john dory insecure until he meets him and realises this is the most #awkward emo man on the planet #john is a country troll!! #terrier has the same kinda legs as sadie!! #i wanna design the entire van der linde gang but idkkkk if I'll get to it #the o'driscolls r called the troll driscolls because there's literally no other choice #eagle is sadie's bounty hunter name :3 #jake adler is called sage!! because marigolds protect sage from harmful bugs n insects and yeas ironic... but her revenge business keeps it #making sense #also look at me getting better at drawing cowboy hats >:o) #protagonist ocs #red dead redemption #red dead redemption 2 #rdr #rdr2 #trolls #trolls world tour #trolls band together #sadie adler #john marston #sean macguire #arthur morgan #oc #kinda #hehehehe

[soracities]

i think reading wuthering heights at the tender age of 15 caused monumental shifts in my psyche but it did so at levels i could not comprehend until years and years later. i'd forgotten all about the "you said i killed you--haunt me then!" line until i joined tumblr but in actually i did not forget it not once bc it's been marinating deep in my bones for over a decade and then came out full force during a random listen of one (1) hozier song. you know what heathcliff and cathy were so right and i WILL haunt you actually and you ARE more myself than i am down until death and beyond babyyyy 💗💗💗💗

#i am apparently a v calming person on the outside but then under that is an excitable jack russell terrier and then under that is a studious #work dog and then under that is an utter melodramatic fanatic <3 #p #tbd

[bisexualbaker]

She says she’s a cat; should I believe her?

#molly the dog #she is definitely a dog #dachshund-terrier mix #id in alt text #she will claim to be whatever gets her chicken #let's see if this will work for the caturday special #probably not #but hey #maybe

[obikindred]

Grief/gain

#i was like what if obiwan was a little white yap dog. #and then i made it so using the powers bestowed upon me by god #he is a highland terrier chihuahua mix #anakin is mostly pitbull with some german shepherd #trust me i work at an animal shelter #🙏amen #obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #my art #star wars #furry art #obi wan and anakin

[goosemixtapes]

sometimes i think i should become a high school latin teacher and i do honestly think i could slay at it but unfortunately i'm extremely bullyable which is not a good trait for a high school teacher

#max.txt #i don't even mean that i take shit (i do but generally not from people younger than me) i jsut mean there's a lot of material to work with #[vine boom] GAY [vine boom] TRANSGENDER [vine boom] NEURODIVERGENT IN A WAY OTHER PEOPLE CAN SENSE BUT NOT DEFINE #[vine boom] HAS THE APPROXIMATE ENERGY OF A JACK RUSSELL TERRIER

[sillysealfan]

so dash tag came back this month

#everyone in sparky's wiki comments are making fun of him for liking fidget spinners FUCK all of you he's safe with me #i get to use animal jam tags because it takes place in same universe probably im into the lore i KNOW THINGS shut it #ive never done any “rendered” art before it was scary but his head lightening bolt was AWFUL since i headcanon him as a #patterdale terrier x pug #i guess this also counts as a slight redesign because the original needed a little work i think #can anyone tell i wanted the style to be like littlest pet shop esque #special interest for almost 9 years she is in every breathe i take #animal jam #animal jam classic #animal jam art #ajpw art #aj art #aj #feral art #sparky #jamblr #my art #redesign #ajpw #dash tag #dash tag art #lps #littlest pet shop #lps art #furry art #furry fandom #furry

[lazer-t]

Domestic Dog (Yorkshire Terrier) for a $15 Ko-fi supporter

#art #my art #digital #digital art #clip studio #clip studio paint #csp #kofi #ko-fi #kofi commissions #commissioned work #request #doodle #coloured #dog #domestic dog #yorkie #yorkshire terrier #lazert #lazer-t

[muttsandmustelidae]

um. excuse me. yes hello. she would like your attention pls

#not my dog #do i have a work tag? i don’t think i have a work tag #oh well #i see terrier i show terrier #🤲

[pacificremains]

Skeleton of a beloved terrier, Penny, cleaned for a customer.

#dog skeleton #terrier skeleton #geriatric skull #customer work

[columboscreens]

#columbo #season 1 #lady in waiting #god imagine if instead of the basset hound they gave him a yappy little terrier #hound is superior but this kind of works too lol

[ofsunhillow]

THEYRE FINALLY DONE...... ranyart olias qoquaq in that order. i had to do them for my peace of mind

#my art #olias of sunhillow #i had to make the four tribes furries. it was the only way #ended up being nagranium=dogs/canines astranius=cats/felines oractaniom=rodents and nordranios=bears #i fwlt like it was the only way to do it bc it's stated that they're not differentiated Physically but by whatever music consciousness is. #and even though i can't put that into visuals #i felt like it worked better than straight up Races because a cat can be big small any color and still be a cat #i dont even have to explain dogs. they belong to the same group bc of an Essence but not necessarily because they look any similar #i wanted qoquaq to be a dog or otherwise canine because hes this group leader guy ....... pack instinct ....... #nagranium is depicted as Beats and whats more uniting than a drum. #ranyart i wanted to make really graceful because hes a dancer ......... catboy it is .... #olias is a mouse because my heart told me so #it was incredibly hard to have to discard a bear character. #it wouldve been qoquaq but i thiught canine fit him more #+ now i can give him a weird terrier mustache

[bokatan]

me and tumblr user bokatan holding hands in a guided “why is outdated “”dog training“” so fucking pervasive” therapy session w each other

i’m dragging @fuzzydreamin into this therapy session because i just know she’s seen some shit too

#you would not believe how hard it was for me to find a trainer here that wasn’t using thinly disguised alpha theory #it was either that or person that exclusively works with aussies and doesn’t believe that genetics/breed influence behavior #shockingly it turns out terrier spitz mixes do in fact need different methods and boundaries than aussies #maybe it’s just me but I don’t understand how people can listen to alpha theory shit and be like. yeah this makes complete sense #it’s even made its way into horse training a bit which is horrifying if you ask me

[tea-time-terrier]

Pencilcase got to run around with a rory while she did bird dog activities. The wildest part? She found and retrieved two birds by herself!

#the powers of fomo work hard on this little terrier #she sees a creature getting snacks and figures out how to get in on that #ngl it was incredibly funny watching the stark difference between the two dogs #turnpike

[darkwood-sleddog]

This is a honest question, but what is your opinion on the class of "Pitbull" dogs? In my experience they often seem to be like Malinois with being a "loaded gun intense dog" with how some owners talk about them, yet also aren't seen as able to do anything but fight.

Do you think they'd be good with sports? Like pulling, or sledding, or agility? Also on the Malinois, what do you think of the videos of them scaling walls, or put through such intense workouts?

I like American Pit Bull Terriers and other pit bull type dogs. I think they have a pleasing shape and I love their fat heads and how easily they seem to build muscle. If you're active, and don't need a dog that can be off leash or with other dogs necessarily, not into socializing with weird dogs yourself, they can be great companions. They are successful in weight pulling and generally love pull sports (all the weight pull clubs 'near' me are run by pit bull people). Overall I think many people have worked hard to maintain the dog as an active breed while finding other ways to satisfy the dog's need to work without falling into dog fighting. Weight pull, back packing, joring, wall climb and other individual sports are great options for these dogs. Hell I also know a ton that do hog work. In this way they are a lot like malamutes (besides the hog work, but one could argue this is very similar to the way indigenous sled dogs are used for hunting/polar bear security).

Where I feel the breed falls short is when people try to "de-intensify" the way they are talked about to combat breed bans and negative stigma (think 'velvet hippo' and 'it's all how you raise them' mentality). I think white rescue people get a big high over taking pit bulls out of what they deem as negative environments when in reality this dog is owned in majority by people of color in urban places. I think that LESS people need to own pit bulls because they are NOT velvet hippos or nanny dogs, they are instead an active, dog aggressive breed. There's nothing bad about that fact, it's just the truth. Like literally think of the nastiest Jack Russel Terrier you've ever met (and i think many people have met at least one REALLY ornery small terrier dog in their lifetime) and then make it 40-60 pounds. That's what a pit bull is at its core. A big ass terrier. I think the people that talk about these dogs in a way that is HONEST about the actual nature of these dogs (intense, strong, active and dog aggressive) are doing the breed a kindness. I think shelters and rescues trying to down play these very real, very breed standard in well bred pit bull types traits in these dogs to get them adopted are putting people in real danger. I think a lot of random bred pit bull type dogs have human aggression and I think we need to be more liberal with behavioral euthanasia for those individuals.

I like pit bull people that are in the breed for what the breed ACTUALLY is and respect that while not continuing the dog fighting horrors of their past and finding other, more positive ways to honor the dogs abilities. I HATE pit bull people that see them as capable of doing nothing wrong ever ever ever. The breed has, at its core, two very different types of camps that own them and unfortunately the later is more prominent.

And regarding Malinois I don't think that there's anything wrong with putting a dog through an intense workout. Malinois are truly incredible dogs and capable of so many things. The problem comes in for me when handlers expect and desire the dog to be overly stimulated and engaged 100% of the time. That's not healthy mentally for the dog and I also don't believe a dog can perform those tasks safely when they are quivering from stimulation. From a big dog owner perspective, I do wonder about the joint health of these dogs though honestly.

And to finish off, I do think there is a difference between talking honestly about a dog breed and the "loaded gun language" I so frequently complain about. Talking honestly about a breed is about acknowledging the differences and challenges a specific breed or type of dogs may have. Not every breed is suited for every person or situation and it is important to recognize this. "Loaded Gun" language, as often used with Malinois and Pit Bull types, is bragging about a dog's lack of manageability as if that is a good thing, as if the dog needs some super human or some sort of ridiculous schedule to act composed. In reality it feels like these people are overwhelmed by the dog they have created, a dog that has never been taught to settle, and are ignorantly talking pridefully about this to convince themselves that THEY are correct and there's nothing wrong. It's not bad to do intense dog sports, or to have a dog that loves and is driven to do said sports, but a good sport dog and/or working dog should be able to compose themselves. Without this ability they are not able to truly be a dog, existing simply as dog kind, and are just a tool with which people stoke their egos. If you're in it for the dog you will allow them to relax and settle, even if that has to be taught.

#dogblr #faq #pit bulls #american pit bull terrier #malinois #working dogs #thank you for such an interesting question! #my sister in law does rescue rehabilitation work with pit bull types #and she is the only person i trust to watch my dogs in the same way i do #because she is used to intense and quirky dogs #in the right hands pit bulls are great #but they are also mostly in the wrong hands lol #the same can be said for many breeds #but few breeds have been woobified like the pit bull